The percentage of children that grow up without their biological father is now 33% and growing. There are numerous reasons that there are so many fatherless homes in the U.S.. I would like to briefly talk about just one of the reasons.

The Government!

A couple of quotes: “During the twentieth century, government and a variety of public institutions assumed responsibilities that had previously been left largely to fathers. Despite repeated governmental efforts to shore up the paternal role, the large-term trend has been a weakening of men's family roles.” 1 “Welfare policies among the poor have put government in the role of the father and equated fatherhood with a monthly check, said Glenn T. Stanton, director of family formation studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. This has left many fathers free to walk away from their children knowing they will not starve thanks to programs that provide cash assistance to single mothers in proportion with the number of children they have, he said.” 2 In too many instances, irresponsible men have allowed the government to step in where they should be. Too many women with multiple children allow their families to be fatherless because the government eases the burden of single parenting with aid that often increases with each child. Who is more reliable, an irresponsible dad or a government check? The men in these situations have sexual relations with no responsibilities. The women have sexual relationships but no man to get in their way. Having no one to answer to is a blessing to many of them.

Generations are learning that this is normal. And it is for many families. The sons of these families don’t know how to be a dad, and the daughters of these families don’t know how to be treated by a man. In short, it is my opinion that government assistance, perhaps with honorable intentions, makes it too easy to have fatherless families. The result is the chaos of more fatherless families resulting in mental health issues, abuse of drugs, crime, wasted tax dollars, and most importantly, wasted lives. There is some thought to putting caps on welfare after a certain amount of children are born to unwed mothers. “Social science research, however, consistently concludes that women on welfare do not have additional children for the purpose of obtaining an increase in benefits.” 3 If this is true, then why do they continue to have additional children without fathers involved? The number one rule of fathering is to be aware of the needs of your children. If you care enough to do that, the rest (responsible care) will come. That is, of course, you think the government can fill those needs better than you, the father.

"The working class feels the end of men the most, as men lose their jobs and lose their will to be fathers, and women do everything alone, creating a virtual matriarchy in the parts of the country that used to be bastions of good old macho country music style values. Why don’t these women marry or live with the fathers of their children? As many a woman told me, “He’d be just another mouth to feed.”

Knowledge and skills have great importance in every human life. It can be gained only through getting formal and informal education. It is necessary for an individual to focus on both educations for his development.